Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday reviewed the preparations of the forthcoming DefExpo 2022 at a meeting in New Delhi.

During the meeting, minister was briefed by officials about the extensive arrangements being made by multiple stakeholders for the event.

​The 12th edition of DefExpo, scheduled to be held in Gujarat between October 18-22 will be the biggest ever as a record 1,136 companies have registered for the event today and the numbers are expected to rise.

The event is being planned in the largest ever total area of over one lakh sqm (previous edition being 76,000 sqm). The theme of 12th DefExpo is ‘Path to Pride’ which is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform India into a strong and self-reliant nation by supporting, showcasing and forging partnerships for the Indian Aerospace and Defence manufacturing sectors with Indian as well as global customers.

The event will showcase the might of the domestic defence industry which is now powering ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ resolve of the Government and the nation at large.

The event will be the first-ever edition exclusively for Indian companies.

“Al Indian companies, Indian subsidiaries of Foreign OEMs, Division of company registered in India, Exhibitor having Joint Venture with an Indian company will be considered as Indian participants,” stated Ministry of Defence.

The DefExpo 2022 will also mark the celebration of one year of the formation of the seven new defence companies, carved out of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board. All these companies will be participating for the first time at DefExpo.​

​The 12th DefExpo will be a five-day exhibition, with October 18-20 being business days and October 21 & 22 for public display.

The biggest-ever drone-show by IIT Delhi start-up M/s Botlabs, which is an iDEX winner, has also been organised.

In addition, the exhibition will host the 2nd edition of the India-Africa Defence Dialogue, in which several Defence Ministers from African countries are expected to participate. A separate Indian Ocean Region plus conclave has also been planned.

The India Pavilion – a marque pavilion of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence – will showcase the maturity of indigenous defence products, start-ups, latest technology, including Artificial Intelligence in defence, and will present India’s vision for 2047.

Over 50 start-ups will showcase their products at the pavilion. For the first time, States/Union Territories have been invited to set up pavilions at the event, with several confirming their participation. More than 300 partnerships in terms of MoUs, Transfer of Technology agreements and product launches are being finalised.